Japan's Yamaguchi off to winning Olympic start in badminton women's singles

Japan's Akane Yamaguchi made a winning start to the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, easing to a 2-0 victory over Pakistan's Mahoor Shahzad in the badminton women's singles event.The fourth-seeded Yamaguchi needed just 23 minutes to brush aside Shahzad 21-3, 21-8 in the Group L match at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, while compatriots Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino also got off on the right foot in the mixed doubles.Watanabe and Higashino overcame a shaky start to see off Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje in Group C.The 24-year-old Yamaguchi was naturally delighted with the win…READ FULL ARTICLE